Here’s a link to the promo site, with clips of each track:
The Emperor’s New Clothes site
The link above goes to the ‘concert version’ of the music, intended for listening. For performance, I have created a user interface intended to be controlled by a production person during performance, tied to the actual script. Certain musical elements (gong hits, timpani boings, etc.) may be either triggered with the interface or done live as part of the staging. I also have plenty of ideas for an interested director for integrating the music and staging, including multimedia elements.
For those so inclined, here is the score:
Stuff! Music and Songs for The Emperor’s New Clothes – Full Score
If you have an ensemble and would like to produce the play with this music, please let me know! Note that the play requires direct licensing from Samuel French, I just supply the music.
Origins of this project
This music is literally my ‘Opus Zero’, being my oldest (surviving) score, dating back to 1972. Our high school drama program in Oak Ridge, TN was run by a gifted and ambitious director, Shirley Randall, who shepherded us through such gems as South Pacific, Camelot, as well as the classics. In 1972 we mounted a production of Charlotte Chorpenning’s The Emperor’s New Clothes, and performed it both during the day for school audiences, and at night for the general public. Ms. Randall invited me to create some incidental music, and maybe a song, in accordance with the author’s suggestions, and that became the accompaniment to our rendition of the play. The whole thing was very well received, so I was inspired that summer to do more with the music, and increase the ensemble to what I thought a full size treatment should be. Naturally my enthusiasm far outweighed my musical knowledge at that time, so once the score was done it went into a drawer.
Many suitcases later, while cataloguing works last year I took another look at the proto-score, and decided it was worth revisiting. The result several months later was a 1500+ measure full orchestral score, tightly tied to the play’s script. The recordings above were recorded last September by the F.A.M.E.S. Orchestra in Macedonia, and will be released 12/15/16 on a CD by cdbaby.com.
The title ‘Stuff!’ refers to the historical term used for cloth intended to be sewn into garments. The term is used throughout the play.
How to use the music in a production
- You will need to license the play directly from Samuel French, as mentioned above. The music has no formal arrangement with French, it is merely provided as an enhancement to your performance.
- I have created a simple user interface, with all of the necessary audio in 48k 24bit sound, tied to numbered lines in the script. Your tech director will go through the script and number each line similarly, then simply trigger each cue as they reach it in performance..
- Of course, if you have a talented orchestra, I’ll be glad to supply you with the score and parts. The score is similarly tied to the script with cues.
